The joint winners of the 2025/6 Hastings Masters are GM Alexander Kovchan (Ukraine, pictured above with Tina, his daughter) and IM Alex Golding (England), both scoring 7/9. Finishing half a point behind were three players: IMs Marius Deuer and Bennet Hagner, both from Germany, and IM Samuel-Timotei Ghimpu, from Romania.
The last round proved critical, with the top pairings as follows:
Kovchan (6) – Deuer (6,5)
Golding (6) – Williams (6)
Hagner (6) – Kalavannan (5,5)
Marius Deuer, who had earlier reached the front of the pack with 5/6, again held a half point lead, having beaten GM Sarunas Sulskis in round eight. His round nine opponent, Alexander Kovchan, also tasted victory in the previous round, defeating young Turkish talent IM Atilla Kuru (14 years old). A draw would suit Deuer, guaranteeing himself at least a share of first, but the Ukrainian, with the White pieces, could be expected to press.
On board two we saw an all-English pairing, Alex Golding versus GM Simon Williams. Alex’s only loss had come in round two, to Marius Deuer, while Simon, who had also lost to Deuer, had overcome top seed GM Pierre Laurent-Paoli in round seven and now, like Alex, had a chance to win the tournament.
The fourth player on 6/8 was Bennet Hagner. The 17 year-old had impressed throughout with four wins and four draws. He was paired with Koby Kalavannan, one of seven players on 5,5, and with White the German would surely be looking to finish with a win and 7 points.
True to his style Simon Williams chose to sacrifice a pawn in return for open lines, and obtained fair play, but a slip or two allowed Alex Golding to consolidate. White kept a firm hold and Williams was unable to extricate himself, conceding on move 37, a result which brought Alex Golding to 7/9. Meanwhile Kalavannan’s unorthodox Sicilian produced a satisfactory middlegame for Black, where perhaps nerves played a part, Hagner unable to achieve much and settling for a draw. Thus all eyes now turned to board one.
In a topical line of the Advance Caro-Kann, Kovchan followed one of his own games from 2022 for eighteen moves until Deuer chose a different path. Inaccurate play left White with a clear endgame advantage, probably winning, until an error came: Black was able to eliminate a dangerous passed h-pawn and a draw now seemed likely. Deuer was however pressed for time. Kovchan kept up the pressure and Black lost his way: White won a piece and the game was effectively over.
And so we had two decisive games on the top two boards, White wins bringing both Alex (Golding) and Alexander (Kovchan) to 7/9. There was a three-way tie for third: Marius Deuer and Bennet Hagner being joined by Romanian IM Samuel-Timotei Ghimpu, who won a sharp, complex battle against English GM Daniel Gormally.
Nine players scored 6/9, including four GMs: Stephen Gordon and Simon Williams from England, Pierre Laurent-Paoli (France), and Vojtech Plat (Czech Republic.) Sharing with them were IMs Tor Fredrik Kaasen (Norway), Atilla Kuru (Turkey), and Hao Wang (China), together with FM Koby Kalavannan and Adithya Vaidyanathan, the last-named only 13 years old.
The women’s awards were shared equally between three players: WFM Camille Blanquet (France, pictured above), WFM Valentina Verbin (Moldova), and 10 year-old WIM Bodhana Sivanandan (England), all finishing on 5,5/9.
All photography by Prashila Narsing Chauhan